1. Field
A nanocrystal particle and a process for synthesizing the same are disclosed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Unlike bulk materials, nanocrystals have physical characteristics (e.g., energy bandgap and melting point) that are an intrinsic property of their particle size. For example, a semiconductor nanocrystal (also known as a quantum dot) is a semiconductor material having a crystalline structure of a size of several nanometers. The semiconductor nanocrystal has a very small size and a large surface area per unit volume and may exhibit a quantum confinement effect. Therefore, the semiconductor nanocrystal has different physicochemical characteristics than the bulk material having the same composition. In other words, the nanocrystal may have selected characteristics by selecting its size. A quantum dot may absorb light from an excitation source to be in an excited state, and may emit energy corresponding to its energy bandgap.
The semiconductor nanocrystal may be synthesized by a vapor deposition method such as metal organic chemical vapor deposition (“MOCVD”) or molecular beam epitaxy (“MBE”), or by a wet chemical method of adding a precursor to an organic solvent to grow crystals. In the wet chemical method, organic materials, such as a dispersant, are coordinated to a surface of the semiconductor crystal during the crystal growth to control the crystal growth. Therefore, the nanocrystals produced by the wet chemical method usually have a more uniform size and shape than those produced by the vapor deposition method.
Semiconductor nanocrystal materials having a core-shell structure may exhibit slightly enhanced quantum efficiency. Nonetheless, there remains a need for technologies having enhanced qualities, such as improved quantum efficiency.